# 2021–22 Liga Nacional de Guatemala

The 2021–22 Liga Nacional de Guatemala season was the 24th season of the Liga Nacional de Guatemala, the top football league in Guatemala, in which the Apertura and Clausura season is used. The season began on 30 July 2021 and ended on 29 May 2022.

## Team Information

A total of 12 teams will contest the league, including 10 sides from the 2020–21 Guatemala Liga Nacional and 2 promoted from the 2020–21 Primera División.
Sacachispas and Sanarate were relegated to 2020–21 Primera División the previous season.
The relegated team were replaced by the 2020–21 Primera División winners Nueva Concepción and Sololá.

### Promotion and relegation

Promoted from Primera División de Ascenso as of August 2021.
* Nueva Concepción and Sololá
Relegated to Primera División de Ascenso as of August 2021.
* Sanarate and Sacachispas

### Personnel and sponsoring

| Team | Chairman | Head Coach | Captain | Kitmaker | Shirt Sponsors |
| Achuapa | Francisco Zepeda | Adrián García Arias (interim) | Juan Cardona | NS Sport | Claro, Banrural, Domino's, Tellioz, Gallo |
| Antigua | Víctor Hugo García | Dwight Pezzarossi (interim) | Cristian Jiménez | Joma | Tigo, Banrural, Betcris, Domino's, Glucosoral, Mercedes-Benz, Bridgestone |
| Cobán Imperial | Irasema Meléndez | Sebastián Bini | Janderson | NetSportswear | Tigo, Pepsi, Bantrab, Gatorade, Domino's, Mayafert |
| Comunicaciones | Juan Garcia | Willy Coito Olivera | José Contreras | Nino | Tigo, Banrural, Gatorade, Pepsi, Zeta Gas |
| Guastatoya | Léster Rodríguez | Mario Acevedo | Wilson Pineda | NetSportswear | Claro, Banrural, Sistecom, Cementos Progreso, Canal 3 |
| Iztapa | Mario Mejía | Richard Parra | Carlos Kamiani Félix | TutoSport | Tigo, Banrural, Starbus |
| Malacateco | Carlos Gutiérrez | Roberto Hernández | Sixto Betancourt | Silver Sport | Claro, Betcris, Coca-Cola, Starbus, Z Gas |
| Municipal | Gerardo Villa | José Cardozo | Ricardo Jérez | Umbro | Claro, Banrural, Bremen, Pepsi, Herbalife |
| Nueva Concepción | Ezequiel Orellana | Adrián Barrios | Jonathan Muñoz | Jama | Claro, Corporación Smith, Bazar Popular |
| Sololá | Jahiro Otzoy | Silvio Rudman | Víctor Bolivar | NovaSport | Tigo, Shell, Colua |
| Santa Lucía | Rodolfo Puertas | Matías Tatangelo | Thales Moreira | NetSportswear | Claro, Banrural, Domino’s, Sistecom, Azúcar de Guatemala |
| Xelajú | Francisco Santos | Irving Rubirosa | Héctor Moreira | MR | Tigo, Banrural, Domino's, Pepsi, Shell, Gatorade, Zeta Gas |

## Managerial Changes
### Beginning of the season

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
| Achuapa | Sergio Pardo | Resigned | May 2021 | Gustavo Machaín | May 2021 | th (Apertura 2021) |
| Comunicaciones | Mauricio Tapia | Resigned | June 2021 | Willy Coito Olivera | June 2021 | th (Apertura 2021) |
| Municipal | Sebastián Bini | Sacked | May 2021 | José Cardozo | May 2021 | th (Apertura 2021) |
| Malacateco | Rónald Gómez | Resigned | May 2021 | Matías Tatangelo | May 2021 | th (Apertura 2021) |

### During the Apertura season

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
| Achuapa | Gustavo Machaín | Sacked | August 21 | Raúl Arias | August 22 | 10th (Apertura 2021) |
| Malacateco | Matías Tatangelo | Sacked | August 22 | Roberto Hernández | August 26 | 12th (Apertura 2021) |
| Guastatoya | Rafael Díaz | Sacked | August 29 | Daniel Guzmán | August 29 | 9th (Apertura 2021) |
| Cobán Imperial | Fabricio Benítez | Sacked | September 22 | Sebastián Bini | September 22 | 12th (Apertura 2021) |
| Xelajú | Marcó Antonio Morales | Mutual agreement termination | October 18 | Irving Rubirosa | October 20 | 6th (Apertura 2021) |
| Nueva Concepción | Manuel Castañeda | Resigned | October 25 | Gustavo Bobadilla | October 28 | 12th (Apertura 2021) |
| Sololá | Marvin Hernández | Sacked | November 2 | Rafael Díaz | November 2 | 9th (Apertura 2021) |
| Guastatoya | Daniel Guzmán | Resigned | December 1 | Josué Omar Morales (interim) | December 2 | 9th (Apertura 2021) |

### Pre-Clausura changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
| Nueva Concepción | Gustavo Bobadilla | Mutual agreement termination | December 8 | Irving Olivares | December 8 | 12th |
| Santa Lucía | Mario Acevedo | Resigned | December 24 | Juan Manuel Funes | December 29 | Preseason |
| Guastatoya | Josué Omar Morales (interim) | End of interim spell | December 27 | Mario Acevedo | December 27 | Preseason |

### During the Clausura season

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
| Nueva Concepción | Irving Olivares | Sacked | February 5 | Adrián Barrios | February 8 | 12th (Clausura 2022) |
| Santa Lucía | Juan Manuel Funes | Sacked | February 12 | Matías Tatangelo | February 15 | 8th (Clausura 2022) |
| Sololá | Rafael Díaz | Mutual agreement termination | February 15 | Silvio Rudman | February 17 | 12th (Clausura 2022) |
| Achuapa | Raúl Arias | Mutual agreement termination | February 20 | Adrian Arias (interim) | February 23 | 11th (Clausura 2022) |
| Antigua | Roberto Montoya | Sacked | March 3 | Dwight Pezzarossi (interim) | March 4 | 5th (Clausura 2022) |
| Iztapa | Ramiro Cepeda | Resigned | March 20 | Richard Parra | March 21 | 10th (Clausura 2022) |
| Xelajú | Irving Rubirosa | Mutual agreement termination | May 13 | Amarini Villatoro | May 24 | 10th (Clausura 2022) |

## Apertura
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Antigua | 22 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 36 | 13 | +23 | 46 | Qualification for the Championship Playoffs |
| 2 | Comunicaciones | 22 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 37 | 19 | +18 | 44 | Qualification for the Championship Playoffs |
| 3 | Municipal | 22 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 30 | 15 | +15 | 39 | Qualification for the Championship Playoffs |
| 4 | Malacateco | 22 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 36 | 23 | +13 | 36 | Qualification for the Championship Playoffs |
| 5 | Santa Lucía | 22 | 8 | 12 | 2 | 28 | 25 | +3 | 36 | Qualification for the Championship Playoffs |
| 6 | Xelajú | 22 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 18 | 32 | −14 | 30 | Qualification for the Championship Playoffs |
| 7 | Iztapa | 22 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 21 | 32 | −11 | 28 | Qualification for the Championship Playoffs |
| 8 | Sololá | 22 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 21 | 32 | −11 | 25 | Qualification for the Championship Playoffs |
| 9 | Guastatoya | 22 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 18 | 23 | −5 | 23 | |
| 10 | Cobán Imperial | 22 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 22 | 31 | −9 | 20 | |
| 11 | Achuapa | 22 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 12 | 24 | −12 | 16 | |
| 12 | Nueva Concepción | 22 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 12 | 36 | −24 | 16 | |

### Championship Playoffs

* Qualified teams
** Antigua
** Comunicaciones
** Municipal
** Malacateco
** Santa Lucía
** Xelajú
** Iztapa
** Sololá

#### Final
##### Second leg

* Apertura 2021 champions
* Malacateco 1st title

## Clausura
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Comunicaciones | 22 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 39 | 24 | +15 | 41 | Qualification for the Championship Playoffs |
| 2 | Municipal | 22 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 34 | 18 | +16 | 40 | Qualification for the Championship Playoffs |
| 3 | Guastatoya | 22 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 32 | 18 | +14 | 37 | Qualification for the Championship Playoffs |
| 4 | Malacateco | 22 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 29 | 22 | +7 | 35 | Qualification for the Championship Playoffs |
| 5 | Cobán Imperial | 22 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 29 | 25 | +4 | 34 | Qualification for the Championship Playoffs |
| 6 | Antigua | 22 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 33 | 22 | +11 | 33 | Qualification for the Championship Playoffs |
| 7 | Achuapa | 22 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 29 | 25 | +4 | 33 | Qualification for the Championship Playoffs |
| 8 | Santa Lucía | 22 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 36 | 27 | +9 | 28 | Qualification for the Championship Playoffs |
| 9 | Iztapa | 22 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 30 | 31 | −1 | 28 | |
| 10 | Xelajú | 22 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 17 | 31 | −14 | 23 | |
| 11 | Sololá | 22 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 46 | −27 | 15 | |
| 12 | Nueva Concepción | 22 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 21 | 57 | −36 | 15 | |

### Championship Playoffs

* Qualified teams
** Comunicaciones
** Municipal
** Antigua
** Malacateco
** Cobán Imperial
** Guastatoya
** Achuapa
** Santa Lucía

#### Final
##### Second leg

* Clausura 2022 champions
* Comunicaciones 31st title

## Aggregate table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Comunicaciones | 44 | 25 | 10 | 9 | 76 | 43 | +33 | 85 | CONCACAF League round of 16 |
| 2 | Antigua | 44 | 23 | 10 | 11 | 69 | 37 | +32 | 79 | |
| 3 | Municipal | 44 | 23 | 10 | 11 | 64 | 33 | +31 | 79 | CONCACAF League preliminary round |
| 4 | Malacateco | 44 | 19 | 14 | 11 | 65 | 45 | +20 | 71 | CONCACAF League preliminary round |
| 5 | Santa Lucía | 44 | 16 | 16 | 12 | 64 | 52 | +12 | 64 | |
| 6 | Guastatoya | 44 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 50 | 41 | +9 | 60 | |
| 7 | Iztapa | 44 | 15 | 11 | 18 | 51 | 63 | −12 | 56 | |
| 8 | Cobán Imperial | 44 | 14 | 12 | 18 | 51 | 56 | −5 | 54 | |
| 9 | Xelajú | 44 | 14 | 11 | 19 | 29 | 63 | −34 | 53 | |
| 10 | Deportivo Achuapa | 44 | 12 | 13 | 19 | 41 | 49 | −8 | 49 | |
| 11 | Sololá | 44 | 9 | 13 | 22 | 40 | 78 | −38 | 40 | Relegated to Primera División de Ascenso |
| 12 | Nueva Concepción | 44 | 8 | 7 | 29 | 33 | 93 | −60 | 31 | Relegated to Primera División de Ascenso |
* ↑ As Clausura champions (GUA1)
* ↑ As runners-up with better aggregate record (GUA3)
* ↑ As Apertura champions (GUA2)

## List of Foreign Players

This is a list of foreign players in 2021-2022 season. The following players:
* have played at least one apertura game for the respective club.
* have not been capped for the Guatemala national football team on any level, independently from the birthplace. Archived 2018-07-29 at the Wayback Machine
A new rule was introduced a few season ago, that clubs can only have five foreign players per club and can only add a new player if there is an injury or player/s is released.